A blog about local life, useful tips for tough women and general pondering regarding their tough lives

TheApennines

My husband and I were raised in Tuscany, Italy. Many Italians actually don’t live the country for their holidays as there is so much to see all around Italy and every region is so different from one another that you feel a tourist in your own country even just after a few hours drive. That is probably why, when coming to visit our family in Tuscany, we often chose to spend a few days in another beautiful region next door, Emilia Romagna, to have a break and leave the kids with their grandparents without being too far, ideal destination both in winter and summer.

The first time we went it was August 2013; we stayed in a town called Porretta Terme where you can relax and have amazing spa treatments at Hotel Helvetia.

There is a beautiful natural park in the area called Corno alle Scale where, with the use of a chair lift, you can do some amazing hiking with breathtaking views on the Appenines mountains or simply walk in silently enchanted woods.

Even just wondering around and discovering nature, little castles and waterfalls is worth your relaxing holidays.

Lakes of this region are charming under any weather conditions (first line Lago Santo and Lago Baccio in January, below Lago Scaffaiolo and Lago di Suviana in August – just google them).

During our stay for new years eve this year we rented a flat in a lovely little village called Fiumalbo.

Val di Luce, which by car is not far from there (surrounded by free parking spaces), is excellent for skiing, even for beginners as it has a very small ski run for lessons, together with the higher and longer ski runs for experts, so even if you are a mixed level group of friends, everyone can ski 🙂

So if you love mountain in the winter or the summer, Emilia Romagna is one great region to go to in Italy!

PS All pictures in this post were taken by myself between August 2013 and January 2017.